2012 Annual Report

Micaela Preskill, WashPIRG Advocate

To Our Members

Dear WashPIRG member,

2012 may be remembered as the year when moneyed special interests outdid themselves; more than ever, billionaires and corporations flooded our elections with millions upon millions of dollars, often drowning out the public’s best interest. But here at WashPIRG we pushed back even harder. We organized the grassroots, mobilized our allies, and reached out to local media, making the voice of everyday Washingtonians loud and clear. Together, we made strides to reclaim a democracy that is of, by, and for the people.

After identifying wasteful agricultural subsidies that do nothing for small farmers and pad the pockets of giant junk food makers, WashPIRG stood up to Big Ag this year. Together, with our federation of state PIRGs, we held conversations with 1.3 million people nationwide, alerting them to the outrageous billion-dollar-a-year handouts that essentially go to making junk food.

We brought attention to the $150-billion-a-year loss we take on to pick up the tab for tax dodgers. We singled out some of the most notorious gimmicks—like the “Dutch Sandwich”—and pinpointed some much more appropriate places where this money could have been spent—like providing loan guarantees for an additional half-million small businesses. Our advocates went to Washington, D.C. to make our case directly to decision-makers.

And we stood up to corporate lobbyists everywhere in our fight to reclaim democracy. We took the first steps in overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision by growing the grassroots momentum that has put Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle and more than 500 communities on record supporting a constitutional amendment that restores our democracy back to the people.

It’s been a big year for WashPIRG, but it has also been a big year for me. In November, I moved to Washington from Massachusetts, where I was a consumer associate at MASSPIRG, working to mobilize Massachusetts citizens across the state to secure funding for public transportation. And this fall, I spearheaded campaigns to register minority voters in Wisconsin and Colorado for the November elections. I’ve learned that the political process needs effective public interest advocates to protect consumers. I look forward to doing just that every day in 2013.

There’s a long way to go yet, but with your continued support of WashPIRG I’m confident we can continue to make progress. Thank you for being a part of it.

Micaela PreskillWashPIRG Advocate

ON THE COVER: 1)WashPIRG Lead Organizer Marc Walsh 2) WashPIRG State Advocate Micaela Preskill 3) WashPIRG’s Tax and Budget Advocate Dan Smith 4) WashPIRG’s Healthcare Advocate Mike Russo

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Stop Subsidizing ObesityAs Farm Bill Debate Heated Up, WashPIRG Pushed to End Wasteful Ag Subsidies

In 2012, Congress was poised to renew a subsidy that sends an annual billion-dollars to junk food ingredients, like high fructose corn syrup.WashPIRG’s staff engaged the grassroots to push back against Cargill, Monsanto, and multiple groups’ efforts to keep these handouts.

The stakes were high—according to our “Apples to Twinkies” report, $18 billion in taxpayer dollars have gone to junk food ingredients since 1995. That’s enough to buy every kid—every person in the U.S. under 18—eight and a half two-liter bottles of soda every year.

The last time these subsidies were up for reconsideration, Big Ag spent $200 million lobbying—just within that year. Meanwhile, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last three decades.

Mobilizing the Public Across Washington and the U.S., our organizers and advocates built grassroots support to end these wasteful giveaways. Since 2011, along with our federation of state PIRGs, we’ve had more than 1.3 million conversations, bringing the issue directly to those affected by it —the public. And by gathering petitions and postcards, and calling on Congress to stop the subsidies, we’ve united and empowered the voices of these concerned citizens.

Big Ag tried to replicate their own “ g r a s s ro o t s ” s u p p o r t f o r f a r m subsidies by arguing that the subsidies benefit small farmers. In reality, an overwhelming three-quarters of

subsidy dollars go to less than 4 percent of U.S. farms. To push back against industry’s misinformation campaign, our organizers fanned out to farmers markets throughout the country to build a coalition of small farmers against subsidies. More than 550 small farmers joined the campaign, sending a powerful message to Congress.

Congress Feels The HeatAs the Farm Bill came up for debate in September, our advocates worked with congressional champions to introduce amendments that would end taxpayer subsidies for the largest, most profitable agribusinesses. Rather than taking clear action, however,

TaxPayers ConTribuTe Millions a year To The ProduCTion of Junk food—WashPIRG canvassed on this issue last summer. We have successfully raised awareness locally and nationwide to set the stage for revisions to the federal Farm Bill.

Congress deadlocked over renewing the Farm Bill and decided to postpone the decision for another year.

When the Farm Bill comes back up for debate, taxpayer giveaways to junk food ingredients could finally become a thing of the past. At a time when one-in-three kids is overweight, and obesity-related diseases like diabetes are turning into an epidemic, no one in Congress wants to be seen standing up for taxpayer giveaways to junk food. Cutting wasteful spending while attacking childhood obesity could be the perfect storm we need to finally push past the junk food industry.

2012 Annual Report

The first presidential election since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision lived up to its hype, with unprecedented spending from a rising group of mega-donors. WashPIRG worked hard to follow this money, publishing seven ground breaking reports that revealed the extent of this campaign spending and highlighted the fact that wealthy donors were effectively drowning out the voices of ordinary citizens.

The Rise Of The Mega-donorsOne of the new developments since the 2010 Citizens United decision was the creation of Super PACs—political action committees that can raise and spend unlimited funds from corporations, unions, and individuals, as long as they do not directly coordinate with a candidate or party.

Super PACs have ushered in the rise of a new kind of campaign donors—the mega-donor—now able to give unprecedented amounts of money. Our post-election analysis found that the top 32 mega-donors alone gave $313 million to Super PACs, averaging nearly $10 million each. These 32 donors matched the amount given by all 3.7 million small donors to the Obama and Romney campaigns. In a democracy, the size of your wallet should not determine the volume of your voice, but when a handful of donors can match the support of millions of average citizens, our electoral process is severely distorted.

The influence of big donors was not limited to outside groups like Super

PACs. The candidates’ campaigns were also heavily reliant on wealthy donors with the means to give $1,000 or more. Concurrently, 63.8 percent of all individual campaign funds for Senate candidates came from just roughly .04 percent of the population.

Special Interest Dark MoneyWhile that notorious Supreme Court decision did open the door for increased campaign spending, the majority of justices in the Citizens United case strongly reaffirmed the long-standing notion that the identity of campaign donors must be disclosed. Despite this agreement encouraging

transparency, voters could only learn the source of two-thirds of all reported outside spending—and that’s not even including non-reported spending.

Our research detailed the pervasive extent of “dark money”campaign spending that could not be traced back to its original source. Transparency in campaign giving is a cornerstone of our campaign finance process. Without transparency, citizens are left without tools to judge the credibility of election messages. Maintaining secrecy in their spending allows special interests, like major corporations, to not only hide any possible allegiances with politicians, but it also robs customers and shareholders of the opportunity to see what their investments are supporting.

Our report, “Elections Confidential,” found that 31 percent of all reported non-candidate, non-party spending was untraceable to its source. The problem is worse when you look at the TV ads that saturated our airwaves for months: In the presidential race, more than 58 percent of all outside group spending on TV ads was paid for by dark money groups. This secrecy robs us of our ability to know who was actually behind that spending and prevents us from holding them accountable.

Uniting Real CitizensThe silver lining of 2012’s flood of campaign spending may be that Americans are more outraged about the problem of big money in politics than at any time in recent history. We’re

Reclaiming Our DemocracyTwelve States Go On Record Against Citizens United

GrassrooTs MobiliZaTion— We organized PIRG supporters, alongside activists and allies, in a nationwide series of rallies to reclaim a democracy that is of by, and for the people.

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ordinary citizens. For example, we’re working to reinstate a federal tax credit that reimburses contributions to candidates up to $50, making it affordable for nearly every American to support their favorite candidate. We are also working to create more disclosure and accountability for political spenders. We broke records for

using this opportunity to organize citizens to win reforms that will make good on the promise of a government that is of, by, and for the people.

The only way to solve the problems raised by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision—short of the unlikely event that the Court

reverses its decision—is through a constitutional amendment. Changing the Constitution is a long and difficult process, but one that we’re committed to winning. We’ve already made significant progress so far. Twelve states and nearly 500 communities have officially gone on the record in favor of amending the Constitution to clarify that corporations are not people and that spending unlimited money on elections is not a first amendment right.

While we build a movement in favor of a constitutional amendment, we’re working on other ways to minimize the effects of big money that empowers

GeTTinG Money ouT of our eleCTions in WashinGTon sTaTe: WashPIRG Advocate Micaela Preskill speaking with Sen. Adam Kline, the co-sponsor of Washington’s state resolution to call on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that will allow Congress and the state to put limits on spending in elections.

public comments when we flooded the Securities and Exchange Commission with comments urging them to require corporations to disclose their electoral spending. We’ve also directly targeted some of the biggest corporate donors by organizing with their consumers and shareholders, along with concerned citizens, to call on companies to refrain from political spending and to stop distorting our democracy.

Now it’s Washington’s turn. We’re working to pass a resolution to put Washington on record, urging Congress forward with an amendment.

EACH GAVE AN AVERAGE

$9.9 MILLIONTO SUPER PACS

Which matches EVERY DOLLAR given by small donors to Romney

and Obama combined

$313 MILLION

A CLOSER LOOK: Big Money in the 2012 elections

3.7 MILLIONSMALL DONORS

BILLIONAIRES &CORPORATIONS32

U.S. PIRG Democracy Report, “Billion-Dollar Democracy: The Unprecedented Role of Money in the 2012 Elections.”

Washington Public Interest Research Group

naTional foCus on fisCal PrioriTies—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (left) with House Speaker John Boehner (right) speaking about the urgency surrounding federal fiscal responsibilities.

Wells Fargo—a bank that was rescued by a taxpayer bailout—thanks largely to its 58 subsidiaries operating in offshore tax havens, also paid nothing in federal taxes in recent years.

Avoiding The Fiscal CliffWashPIRG led the charge in proposing that closing corporate tax loopholes should be the first step in relieving the budget crisis.

In February, state PIRG staff from across the country descended on Washington, D.C., to make the case directly to their members of Congress and build support for legislation that would close the most egregious tax loopholes. In April, the work paid off

As Congress raced to hit the mandatory deficit-reduction goals that it had set for itself a year earlier, 2012 brought us an epic fight over the federal budget.

Critical public priorities faced the chopping block, including funding for education, food safety, and law enforcement. While this self-imposed budget debate threatened to bring all other work in Washington to a halt, it also presented a prime opportunity to build support for the obvious first step to fixing our budget woes: closing the exploited offshore tax loopholes.

Exposing Corporate Tax DodgersMany American corporations and wealthy individuals use complicated accounting tricks to take advantage of loopholes in the tax code, moving their U.S. income to shell companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. They pay little or no taxes on those profits, leaving the rest of us to pick up their tab in the form of cuts to public programs, higher taxes, or more debt. Offshore tax havens cost taxpayers as much as $150 billion every year.

WashPIRG research exposed the worst tax dodgers. We identified the “Dirty Thirty” —30 highly profitable Fortune 500 companies that recently spent more on lobbying the federal goverment than they paid in federal taxes. The study made waves as it was covered by media outlets ranging from CBS News to the Daily Show.

Over a three-year period, we found that General Electric made $10.5 billion in profits, but paid zero in federal taxes.

when an amendment to crack down on offshore tax cheats sailed through the Senate with a voice vote. Though the amendment failed in the House, this vote assured us that our senators could stand up to the corporations that benefit from these loopholes.

WashPIRG is building upon that support in preparation for the next time that Congress votes on tax loopholes. To hold our representatives’ feet to the fire, WashPIRG is also expanding the coalition we co-founded that brings together small business, labor, civil rights, and religious groups to stand against corporate tax dodgers.

Closing Corporate Tax LoopholesBuilding Momentum Towards Overturning Citizen United

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Government AccountabilityWashPIRG Pushed For Budget Transparency And An End To Wasteful Spending

SEATTLE SPENDING TRANSPARENCY REPORT CARD

This report card reflects Seattle’s progress toward “Transparency 2.0,” a national standard of comprehensive, one-stop, one-click budget accountability and accessibility. Twelve scoring criteria were used to measure the breadth and ease-of-use of spending information provided by Seattle online.

DATE: 1/23/2013

NAME: City of Seattle

GRADER: WashPIRG

Checkbook Level DetailCheckbook Level Data

Historical Data

Searchable

Contracts Provided/Described

Downloadable

ComprehensiveTax Expenditures

Budgets

Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs)

Service Request Features

Central Transparency WebsiteCentral Portal

Links to Features

OVERALL GRADE

TOTAL POSSIBLE

34

15

94

3

10

51

13

8

100

2915920

0

4

78C+

1328

3 3

4128

4 7

3

431

A “C+” CITY—We graded 30 of America’s most populous cities’ online databases of government expenditures on their “checkbook-level” detail and accessibility to the public. Seattle was ranked as an “emerging” city, being commended for its efforts to open the books on government spending, but faulted for checkbook tools that lack the ease-of-use to be fully considered a practical tool for public accountability.

DID SEATTLE MAKE THE GRADE?WashPIRG Education Fund’s fourth annual evaluation of state governments’ budget websites, “Following the Money,” continues to set the standard for budget transparency nationwide. Officials from Washington and 47 other states provided our researchers with feedback on their initial evaluation of state transparency websites.

“Open information about the public purse is crucial for democratic and effective government,” said WashPIRG Advocate Micaela Preskill. “It is not possible to ensure that government spending decisions are fair and efficient unless information is publicly accessible.”

Grading Access & AccountabilityBased on an inventory of the content and ease-of-use of states’ transparency websites, “Following the Money 2013” assigns each state a grade of “A” to “F.” Washington’s “Fiscal Information” transparency website, which garnered a “B-” grade, provides checkbook-level information on contracts, economic development tax credits, grants, and other expenditures. However, it lacks other kinds of information, such as information on off-budget agencies’ spending. It also lacks adequate information to hold companies accountable for economic development subsidies.

As a result of rising grading standards, Washington’s “B” grade from last year dropped to a “B-” this year. In order for states to keep up with rising standards and maintain high scores, they must continually improve transparency.

“The state of Washington should improve the breadth and ease-of-access of online government spending information,” said Preskill. “Given our state budget problems, Washingtonians need to be able to follow the money.”

Ending Rewards For WrongdoingA WashPIRG white paper exposed a little-known loophole in the justice system that has been rewarding corporations when they break the law: When corporations get sued for their wrongdoing by the federal government, they often decide to settle out of court. And they’re typically allowed to treat the amount charged in the settlement as a business expense, which they consider a tax write-off. This practice is essentially an invisible subsidy given to corporations for committing acts against the public.

When the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged BP with crimes related to the Gulf oil spill, we organized thousands to contact the Attorney General and the president, launching a campaign to convince the government that any settlement agreement should forbid BP from writing off their wrongdoing. This fall, when the DOJ announced its $4.5 billion settlement with BP, they included that the oil giant would not be permitted to deduct settlement costs. Before this victory, BP could have taken in $1.3 billion in tax benefits.

Now, we’re working to convince government agencies to embed this policy in all future settlements.

aMonG The findinGs froM The rePorT

Democratic- and Republican-leaning states perform equally well when it comes to transparency this year.

Washington Public Interest Research Group

Under the guise of “regulatory reform,” many of the nation’s largest special interests and their allies in Congress are systematically attacking the country’s public health and consumer protections. Several bills were introduced in 2012 that claimed to prevent over-regulation; instead, by forcing regulators to jump through new bureaucratic hurdles, these bills would have blocked the enforcement of new and existing health and safety laws.

These bills pose a grave threat to the health and safety of the American people. If implemented, they would undermine protections dealing with every aspect of our way of life, from air and water pollution to product safety and toxic chemicals.We rallied the public in support of public health and safety rules and worked with champions in Congress to successfully prevent these bills from moving forward. Now, WashPIRG is working with members of Congress to provide practical alternatives to wholesale attacks on public health and safety.

Trouble In ToylandIn November, we released our 27th annual “Trouble in Toyland” report, just in time for the holiday shopping season. The report has become a media staple and a cornerstone of our product safety program. Unfortunately, we found that dangerous and toxic toys can still be found on store shelves. We had numerous toys laboratory tested for lead, cadmium and phthalates, all of which have been proven to have serious adverse health impacts on the

development of young children. We also identified a list of dangerous toys that present other threats, including a potentially dangerous magnet toy, a bowling game that is a choking hazard, and a key chain rattle that may be harmful to young ears. In addition, the report called for stronger regulations to keep unsafe toys off the market.

Protecting You At The TableContaminated food is one of the nation’s most widespread public health problems, making 48 million Americans sick each year and hitting our economy with $77 billion in associated costs. A WashPIRG report,

“Total Food Recall,” discovered that many of our food safety programs are outdated and broken.

In January 2011, Congress updated our food safety rules by passing the WashPIRG-backed Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was designed to give the Food and Drug Administration long-awaited tools and powers to protect consumers. When bureaucratic red tape held up implementation of the FSMA, we organized consumers to demand that the law be put to work immediately.

Trouble in Toyland —WashPIRG Lead Organizer Marc Walsh releases “The Trouble in Toyland” report to the media as part of a nationwide campaign to protect consumers. WashPIRG has been releasing this report annually for close to a decade.

Safeguarding Public Health Defending Public Health ProtectionsSafeguards Against Industry Attacks

Safeguarding Public Health Defending Public Health Protections

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Development CommitteeDevelopment Committee members supported the organization with contributions of more than $1000.

Fred Kleisner Lisa Mennet Sarah Merner Kyle Bradley Peterson Douglas H. Phelps Mark & Patricia Rothman

PatronsPatrons supported the organization with contributions between $999 and $500.

Patricia & Robert Atkinson • Suzanne Beaudoin • Andrea Bolliger • Stan & Mary Case

Citizen Support • Jennifer Castillo & Vicente Hernandez • Emma & Roger Crew • Kristen Cullen • Catherine & John Dart • Diane Deryss & Bruce Macon • Esther Diez • Daniel Foster • Beverly A. & David Gire • Patrick Holm • Markus Jansen • Candace Jordan • Gayle & Garald E. Kirk • Linda Lyon • Kate Mcpherson • Randall Miller • K. & Sarah Miller • Ed Morrison • Dobrina M. Okorn • Steven Olson • John Osterhaug • Patricia Peters • Dan & Carol Powers • Dale Rice • Jim Schwartz • Princess O. Shareef • Tom Sheehan • Anne Steele • Susan E. Strauss • Barbara Swanson • Joanne Washburn • Chris Weare • Glenna R. & Brian Wolf

PartnersPartners supported the organization with contributions between $499 and $250.

Ann Adkins • David Ahlers & Liza Sheehan • Steven Allmaras • Barbara Alvin • Stuart Anderson • Jimmye Angell-Erickson • Antonella Antonini & Alan Stein •

Citizen support is the cornerstone of our work. Thousands of Washingtonians supported WashPIRG by making membership contributions in fiscal year 2012. The members listed on the following pages were particularly generous in their support of our work. Names that appear in italic denote members who provide stability to the organization’s resources through WashPIRG’s monthly giving program.

WashPIRG SupportersWashPIRG & WashPIRG Foundation

Cecelia Armijo • Rep. Seth A r m s t r o n g • B r a n d o n Backlund • Dana Bagg • David Bailey & Mary Lou Mac Kay • Paul Banner • Sam Barloon • Joe Bartek & Peggy Cahill • Terri Bell • Marilyn Bentz • Alissa Berteig • Kathleen Bisagna • John & Leila Bishop • Rebecca Black & Dave Hicks • Frances Blair • Marty Blanchard • Karen Boardman • Vicki Boeckman • Ben Bonora • Marideth Bookter • Brent Bottles • Joanne Bourgeois • Peter & Dawn Braden • Deborah Bremner • Anne & David Bricklin • Thomas Brogan • Amy Brown • Stephanie Brown • Catherine Brumbaugh • Troy Bryant • John Bullivant • Kay Burrell • Ranan Burstein & Michelle Frame • Stacey Bush • Jonathan Cady • Joe Campana • Steve Campbell • Barbara Canada • Joan Carpenter • Sharon Carson • Julie Castner & Peter Maloney • Richard Wynn & Catherine Swee • Laura Chandler • Alice Chang • Mary Chapman • Jay Chapman • Vicki Clancy • Eric & Elaine Clark • Madeen Clarke • Laura Clarson • Lisa & Bradley

Financial Information

Thousands of WashPIRG members and supporters fund the staff who conduct research, public education and advocacy on the issues. You provide the clout we need to win real results. Charts reflect FY12 financial information for Washington State PIRG and WashPIRG Education Fund.

Citizens 97%Grants 2%Other 1%

FY12 Income FY12 ExpensesProgram 70%Fundraising 22%Administration 8%

WashPIRG SupportersWashPIRG & WashPIRG Foundation

Clayton • Thaddeus Coffin & Lisa Haber • John & Megan Collier • Ann & Bernard & Ann Conley • Laurie & Patrick Connelly • Mary Cooper • Mel Cordova • Susan Cover • Damien Crabtree • Felice Davis • Virginia Davison • Don Deierling • David Delisi • Lydia Delmore • Julia Derby • Rebecca Deschamps • Kaveh Dilmaghani • Natalie DiVergigelis • Hyla Dobaj • Sarah Dods • Carol Dolliver • Gail Donnelly • Justin Dunnicliff • Latreash Duvall • Jeff & Sally Eagan • Tom & Tarry Eastep • George Eggler • Sigrid Elenga • Deborah A. Elvins • Sue Engdahl & Steve Shaver • Gretchen Engle • Beth Etscheid • Curt Everett & Mary Trommer • Sandra Eyres • Mark Favero • Joseph & Sunni & Sunni Felt • Daniel Finkel • Vincent & Stephanie Florio • Brehanna Fraser-Bumatay • Jeff & Megan Fries • Jerome Furey • Peter & Roni Gallo • Beatrice Gandara • William Garcia • Vera Garibaldi • Brian Gauger • Anne G. & David Gilbert • Laurrien Gilman • Joe & Julie Glasgow • Cheryl & Phil Godfrey • Cynthia Gopala

Krishna • Jamie Gordon • Nina Goss • Ann Graham • Thomas Grandine • Joni Graves • John Gunnar • Russ Hamerly • Carrie Hamm • Carl Hammersburg • Steven Hartholz • Leslie Hartman • Linda Hartzell • Katharine Hemion • Lloyd Herman • Susan Herring • Richard W. Hess • Joanne Hodgdon • Anne Holden • Andrew Howard • Mary & Mike Hudspeth • Donna Hughes • Marcia Huie • James Hunt • Sherene Huntzinger • Josh Irwin • Bruce Jackson • Elana & Andy Jassy • Kathyrn Jenkins • Catherine Jerome • Nancy & Fred Johnson • Paul Jokisch • Jeanette Jones • Courtney Juhl • Jo & George Kaas • Diane Kaiser • Beth Kalikoff & Roy Studebaker • David Keraney • Deborah & Reily Kidd • Anne Kiemle & Kael Sherrard • Judith Kimeldorf & Martin Kimeldort • Susan Kingrey • Harry & Anne Kirchen • Mary Klise & Robert Sutton • Patrick Knappert • Nicholas Kocan • Beth Kolle • Tabitha Kurofsky & Larry Kurfosky • Christine Kusske & Kim A. • Denise Ladenburg • Margaret Lake &

Phil Iwin • Marianne & Reed & Edward Langenbach • Jeffrey Langsam • Michael Lassner • Denny Lee • Judy & Aaron Levine • Darin & Lisa Loucks • Sharon & Loyd Lowe • Kristen Lowe-Hale & Bruce Lowe Hale • Richard Loya • Glenn MacDonald • Luciann MacDonald • Bette Mackey • Joshua Malle • Alice Malmanger • Michael Maria • Frederick Marshall • Paul Martin • Anton Matosich • Kathleen Matson • Henry Matthews • Serena Mauer & Sam Skrivan • William M c G o v e r n • S h e l l e y McIntyre • Janet & Mel McIntyre • Gordon & Laura McIntosh • Carol Mcnair • Conn Mcquinn • Anna & David Melby • Randy Mercy • Magdelena Merrill • Kathy Middleton • Heather Miller • Alison Milne & Nicholas M. Abbott • Carol & Steve & Carol Moore • David Moore & Lisa Cubbins • Dina & Mario Moreno • Stuart Mork • Adriana Moscatelli • Mark Mullen • Keri Multerer • Wendy Munroe & Andrew Stout • Gordon & Donna Nealy • Darcy Nebergall • Denise

Photos: [All photos taken by our staff unless noted here.] Cover: (top to bottom, left to right) Nick B./ Shutterstock, Andre Blais/ Shutterstock, CCTV News, Olga B/ Shutterstock, CBS News Page 5: Associated Press, Page 10: Cacophany/Creative Commons

Design by Public Interest GRFX (215) 985-1113; printed on recycled paper.

& Curtis Nelson • Karin Nelson • Stephanie Nichols • Kat Oak • Mary Jane Orvis • Lizanne & Elizabeth Padula • Patty Page • Sally Or Wayne Palm-Larson • Matthew Patera • Drew Pearsal l • Lisa Peterson • Calista Pollack • Gary Pomeroy • Sara Poore • Mark Potuin & Michelle Potvin • Oliver Press • Stanley & Britney Price • Rachel Price • Mary Price • David Prior • Gabriel Ramierez • Amritansh & Lisa Raqhav • Erica & Paul Reder • Lois Regen • Matt Reiman & Erin Adams • Jeff Reitan & Kirsten Edenholm • Paul & Fiona Remley • Fredrica Rice • Dave Richter • Richard Riday • Margaret Robert • Linda Robinson • Abigail & Aiden Rogers • Daniel & Lynnette Rogers • Terri & Thomas Roush • Bruce Rutledge • Heidi Sachs • Manish Samadarshi & Archana Sinha • Mary Schoenman • Connie M. Scontrino • Knute Sears & Lauren Locke • Julie Shapiro & Shelly Cohen • Sallie Shippen • Molly K. Siebert • Beverly

& Richard Smaby • Ronna Smith • Paula & Theodore Smith • Richard Smith • Anthony Smith • Julie Smith • Geoffrey Snyder • Alan Sofinowski • Angela Sonia • Dick Stapleton • Ann Stevens • Robert Stevens • Doug & Joan Stewart • Heidi Stolte • Katherine Stolz • Sandra L. Stothers • Amanda Strombom • Will Stuivenga & Arline Moore • Yu-Ya Su & Scott Fischer • Bruce Holway & Sue Lawton • Ellyn Swanson • Robert Swanson • Kelly Sweet • Matthew Tebbs • Gillian Teichert • Meta Thayer • Sara Thompson & Richard Gelinas • Mark & Ann Thorn • Helen Toland & Jeffery Jones • Kathryn M Tominey • Andrew T. Ulrickson • Joel Underwood • Cheryl Uyeji • Ann Vander Stoep • Dave Vannoy & Laura White • Michelle Vest • Andrew Veterane • Gregor Visconty • Elizabeth Wahbe • Eugene Wan • Karen L. Warner • Sheri Watson • John Webb • Deborah & Todd Wedge • Finley White • Kassi White • Adrienne Wiley & Grayson

Myers • Kenneth Williams • Chava Williams • Barbara Williams • Jared Williams • Pam Witte & Dan Gallagher • Carol & Kazuo Yamada • Charles Zalinski • Paul Zickler • Marie Zobrist

WashPIRG and WashPIRG Education Fund gratefully accept bequests, beneficiary designations of IRAs and life insurance, and gifts of securities to support our work for consumers and toward a healthy democracy in our state.

For more information, call 1-800-841-7299 or send an email to: plannedgiving@WashPIRG.org.

Be An Advocate For Washington’s Future

WashPIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, conducts research and public education on emerging public interest issues. Contributions to WashPIRG Education Fund are tax-deductible.

To find out more, contact Micaela Preskill at (206) 568-2854

Foundation Support

NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S.POSTAGE PAID BROCKTON, MA PERMIT NO. 430

WashPIRGWashington Public Interest Research Group 1402 3rd Ave., Ste. 715Seattle, WA 98101(206) 568-2854

Address Service Requested

WashPIRG Staff (partial list)

Ed MierzwinskiFederal Consumer Program Director

Steve Blackledge Deputy Director

2012 Annual Report

Michael Russo Federal Program Director

Marc Walsh Lead Organizer

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Micaela PreskillAdvocate

Blair Bowie Democracy Advocate